Ian McEwan joins Southbank’s Literature Season line-up

Ian McEwan will join writers James Ellroy, Jeanette Winterson and Robert Macfarlane on the Southbank Centre’s Summer 2019 Literature Season, with a packed programme of more than 25 events taking place from April to August. 

The writers will take part in exclusive in-conversation events to present their new books, debut novelists Candice Carty-Williams and Ocean Vuong will also take to the stage. 

McEwan will present his new novel Machines Like Me (Jonathan Cape) which explores the advent of artificial intelligence in an alternative 1980s London. In this pre-publication London exclusive event in collaboration with Vintage Live, McEwan will also reflect on his life and a writing career which spans four decades at the Royal Festival Hall on 15th April. 

Organisers have launched a new partnership with Out-Spoken, one of London’s premier live poetry and music nights which celebrates diversity of voice in writing and performance, who will begin a year-long residency at Southbank Centre in May with monthly events and masterclasses. Poetry is a strong focus of the season which also sees the return of National Poetry Library Lates, a new series of poetry salons launching this spring, and a new free exhibition for Southbank Centre’s National Poetry Library. The season also includes exclusive in-conversation events with award-winning authors and debut novelists, an expanded series of new writing courses, prizes, live readings and book launches. 

Ted Hodgkinson, head of literature and spoken word at Southbank Centre, said: “We’re proud to present a Summer Season that brings together the brightest new talents with firm favourites and showcases the explosive energy of the poetry and spoken word scene. Welcoming Out-Spoken for a year-long residency promises to bring electrifying nights and new audiences to our spaces, and alongside our National Poetry Library Lates series, launching this spring, further affirms our place as the home of poetry and spoken word in the UK. From hotly anticipated debuts to major new novels by internationally renowned authors, as well as an expanded array of summer courses and masterclasses, we continue our commitment to nurturing emerging talent in a season which has something for aspiring writers and literature lovers alike.”
 
Tickets go on sale to Southbank Centre Members on Tuesday 5th February and to the general public on Wednesday 6th February here with the exception of Polari, Hisham Matar In Conversation, Karen Armstrong: The Lost Art of Scripture and Jeanette Winterson: Frankissstein which will go on sale at a later date.